


Going Off The Trail

by Nicxan



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: An encounter with a Witch written as a fairy tale pretty much, Gen, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-23 16:36:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20245960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicxan/pseuds/Nicxan
Summary: One girl is warned by another that going off the park's trail is a dangerous idea. But when a wounded white creature darts off the path, she finds it hard to stay put.





	Going Off The Trail

**Author's Note:**

> Writer's Month! Day 14, Fairy Tale!
> 
> Admittedly I feel like this is sort of pushing it a bit/had to bend a few things to make it work but it was fun to write in this sort of style!

Once upon a time, there was a young girl with pink hair. She had a good heart, had boundless cheer, and always tried to help those around her. Whether it was a small creature, or a dear friend, she would go out of her way to make them happy.  
  
She was supposed to cross the park one day to meet with her friend with blue hair before school. The girl packed her bag, said goodbye to her mom, and bounded out of her house. The gloomy weather did nothing to deter the girl; she kept moving with a skip in her step. The crowds were difficult to move through, but she did.  
  
It was then, in the middle of the path, that she was stopped by another girl. It wasn’t her friend – the pink-haired girl had only seen the one with dull purple eyes in her class, and they hadn’t spoken more than once.  
  
“You need to stay on the path today,” the girl with dull eyes said. “It’s important.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“It’s a matter of life and death.” With that, the girl was gone, leaving the pink-haired girl alone and uneasy.  
  
She did seem rather serious, the girl thought. No one would play a prank like that, right? She decided to stay on the path, just in case it was a matter of life and death – and if it wasn’t, then she would be fine anyway. It was a very easy choice.  
  
The girl with pink hair continued her walk through the park, stopping in the center. She looked around, side to side, to try and catch eye of the friend she was supposed to meet. Her friend must have overslept again, she thought to herself. And if her friend didn’t show soon, she’d have to walk to school alone.  
  
Ten minutes later, the girl started walking again.  
  
It wasn’t too long before she saw something that caught her eye – a small white creature, with a long poofy tail. Bits of red trailed behind it as it dashed into the trees without a sound. No one else seemed to notice it.  
  
The girl felt conflicted when she remembered the other girl’s warning. But if a creature was hurt, and if no one else would help it, surely she had to, right? If it got dangerous, she could just run away. Satisfied with her reasoning, the girl veered off the path, towards the cluster of trees.  
  
The white creature dashed off to the left, its blood still being flicked around by its tail. She felt fear for the poor thing’s life – it looked badly injured, so she continued to chase.  
  
“Stop! Please! You’re hurt!”  
  
But the creature kept running, not even looking back towards the girl. She followed it, going further and further away from her school. She didn’t notice how dark it had gotten, or how twisted the trees have started to look. Truthfully, she only noticed when the creature had evaded her completely – and she stopped.  
  
The girl looked around in horror, hands trembling in terror. This wasn’t the park at all, she thought. It looked so twisted, and the sky was a pitch black in the daytime. The trees were different too, she saw that now. The branches bent in ways they weren’t supposed to, and they seemed to be looming over her menacingly. The grass beneath her feet crunched when she walked, and it sounded dead.  
  
She spotted the creature, backed into a corner. Relieved, she rushed over and scooped the wounded creature into her arms.  
  
“I’m so glad you’re okay!” she said. “We need to get you patched up.”  
  
_We have … to defeat this … you have to defeat this ..._ This? What did it mean by ‘this’? It just looked like a dark forest, not anything alive.  
  
Something snapped and cracked above her.  
  
The girl whimpered, taking a couple of steps back, holding the creature tightly. The trees around her began to whisper, warping and wrapping around each other, turning into some sort of horrific monstrosity that towered over the poor girl –  
  
_You can do this!_ the creature said, with desperation in its voice. _If you make a contract with me to become a magical girl, we can both get out of this alive!_  
  
The girl blinked in wonder, staring down at the creature she held. She could defeat something like this? Something this monstrous, something this horrible? If she could, maybe she would be worth something, she thought to herself.  
  
She opened her mouth, ready to become a magical girl –  
  
And then, the monstrous creature was attacked by something else. There were screams, delayed screams, an attempt to reach out and grab the pink-haired girl with its branch fingers, but in a flurry of explosions, it had vanished before her eyes, along with the twisted forest.  
  
The girl with dull eyes landed in front of her. Her outfit was different – clearly that of a magical girl herself.  
  
“I told you it was a matter of life and death,” the girl said. Her voice barely trembled. “Why did you not listen to me?”  
  
“But … it was hurt.” She looked into her empty arms, and blinked in confusion. The blood was very real, but where had the creature gone? “I wanted to help it ...”  
  
“And you almost got yourself killed in the process.” The girl with dull eyes stepped forward, and the other girl stepped back, still trembling. “This isn’t a fairy tale. That thing you were chasing was only going to bring you misery and pain – not give you a wonderful life. It was a trap. And you fell for it.” She paused.  
  
“Don’t do it again. Don’t trust anything it tells you!”  
  
And then, the girl with dull eyes was gone. The pink-haired girl stood there silently, trying to process the morning’s events.  
  
The school bell rang.


End file.
